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The iPod is a tough act to follow. But Tony Fadell, one of its creators, and a team of other Apple vets have used a holistic software and hardware approach to design—of all things—the iPod of home thermostats.

We had fun installing two second-generation Nest thermostats, released this winter, at a weekend house one Saturday morning. Professional installation is available, but we did it ourselves.

The they-think-of-everything packaging includes a small screwdriver, so we didn't even have to hunt for the right Phillips. It took us less than an hour to swap out two old, gold-colored Honeywell thermostats. That night, at a dinner party, we showed off our new Nest app (available for iPhone, iPad, and Android) by remotely dialing up the temperature in our chilly, energy-saving bedroom to 68 degrees for when we got home. The app works over the Internet, thanks to each Nest's built-in Wi-Fi connection to your home network. Settings are displayed on a color screen.

On the Nest itself, settings are controlled with a twist, left or right, of a stainless-steel collar, and the device has a beefy battery to ride out power outages. Honeywell and others sell cheaper programmable Wi-Fi thermostats, but the experience is far more Kansas than Oz.

The Nest's great design will pay for itself through lower energy bills—it's the only thermostat we've seen that will be programmed regularly, because it can learn your schedule as you turn down the temperature at bedtime, or up in the morning. And when away, just use the nifty iPhone app to show off your thermostat—and save money.